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Venezuela: Families Protest Slow Release of Political Prisoners
🇵🇦 Panama /Crime & Justice

Venezuela: Families Protest Slow Release of Political Prisoners

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela protested in Caracas, demanding faster releases.
  • They claim the interim government's announced amnesties and releases are happening too slowly and lack transparency.
  • The protest occurred amid ongoing dialogues between the opposition and the interim government, with US involvement.

Relatives of political prisoners gathered in Caracas to demand swifter action on promised prisoner releases, expressing frustration with the pace of the interim government's amnesty program. Ten days after the government announced plans for releases, protesters argued that the process is too slow and lacks transparency.

They said they were going to release 131, they were not released, we demand that they publish the list of political prisoners they are releasing, we demand the immediate freedom of all political prisoners.

— Mayra MoralesDuring a protest in Caracas, demanding faster prisoner releases.

Mayra Morales, whose brother is imprisoned in connection with the failed Gedeón maritime incursion, stated that the promised release of 131 political prisoners has not fully materialized. She demanded the immediate publication of a list of those being freed and called for the immediate liberty of all political detainees. Morales described the releases as occurring "drop by drop."

The NGO Foro Penal has verified 81 releases so far, a number that protesters deem insufficient. María Altagracia Vásquez echoed the sentiment, calling the process "very, very, very, very slow" and "not transparent" due to discrepancies in reported numbers. The interim government, however, claims that 1,046 political prisoners have been released since January 3rd, following an alleged US operation.

It seems to me that it has been very, very, very, very slow. Very slow, it is not transparent, because they talk about numbers that are not real.

— María Altagracia VásquezExpressing frustration with the slow and opaque process of political prisoner releases.

Dinorah Figuera, head of the opposition delegation in political dialogues, emphasized that a country moving towards democratic transition should not hold political prisoners. The protesters marched towards the Ministry of the Interior, identifying Minister Diosdado Cabello as an obstacle to the releases. They were met by a police barrier and metal fencing. Chants of "Political prisoners are not negotiation" and "Delcy, release them, the families are waiting" were heard. The group delivered a document to the Public Ministry demanding the release of approximately 300 political prisoners, while Foro Penal reported 391 still remained detained as of August 10th.

in a country that is advancing towards democratic transition there should be no political prisoners.

— Dinorah FigueraStated after the first round of negotiations between the opposition and the interim government.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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